Horizontal liquid current separator



` NOV 9, 1948- v J. M. AURILIErAL 2,453,293

HORIZONTAL LIQUID CURRENT SEIARATOR Filed Decl 6, 1944 2 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR Joseph M. Aurilio Jack H. Schaefer' BY i.

J. M. AURILIO ET AL HORIZONTAL LIQUID CURRENT SEPARATOR Nov. 9,' 1948.

Filed Dec. 6, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Joseph M. Aurzl zo Jack H. Schecer Patented Nov. 9, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HORIZONTAL LIQUID CURRENT SEPARATGR necticut Application December 6, 1944, Serial No. 566,830

(Cl. 20S-156) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful irnprovements in apparatus and method for the sep-r aration of materials and has particular relation to an improved apparatus and method for separating materials by the flotation process.

The objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration oi the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein a satisfactory embodiment of the invention is shown. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is aview partly in Side elevation and partly in section and showing the apparatus of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view taken as along the plane of the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view, as along the line of Fig. 2, of a portion of the trough or spill-way showing the same in relation to the settling tank; and

4 is an enlarged sectional view taken as along the line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Our apparatus and method as herein disclosed provides for a substantially continuous operation in the separation of a mixture of materials into light and heavy materials, this reference to light and heavy materials being with regard to the specific gravity ci such materials. The invention s herein disclosed with specic refer-- ence to the separation of coke and cinder from one another. This provides for the sah/'aging ol the coke for further use as fuel and the obtaining of substantially pure cinder for use in making driveways, cinder block, etc,

Referring in detail to the drawings a bin for receiving aggregate as from dump trucks or the like is shown at Il] and the same is shown adjacent a ramp l! having a stop block l2 thereon and against which a truck may be backed to dispose its rear end over the bin so that the truck will be dumped directly into the bin. At an elevation lower than that of the bin I!! is a liquid supply tank i3 to which liquid, as water, is supn plied in large volume through a pipe I4 equipped with a valve I5 whereby the supply of liquid may be varied or cut-off.

Communicating at one end with the upper portion of tank i3 is a trough i6 and the arrangement is such that the trough is lower than the top edge of the tank whereby the trough is continuously receiving liquid from the tank in a volume and to a depth depending on the rate of supply of the liquid to the tank. With the construction shown and thus far described it will be clear that the rate of flow of the liquid through the trough may be controlled by manipulation of the valve I5.

Trough i6 passes through the upper portion oi a settling tank il to which liquid is supplied as through a pipe I8 having a manually manipulable control valve l5 therein. The trough IG is so located with reference to the top of the settling tank I7 that the bottom of the trough, particularly the portion thereof having an opening or throat 20 therethrough, that the level of liquid in the tank Il may be maintained above the floor or bottom of the trough. Thus in Fig. 2 lthe level of the liquid in the settling tank il is shown as the same as that in the trough l5.

Beyond the tank il the trough i6 discharges onto a screen or perforated member 2i below which is a funnel-like means 22 to catch the material passing through the screen and direct it into a discharge pipe 23. The liquid flowing through the trough passes thro-ugh the screen 2i and is discharged through the pipe 23 as are any fines lor small particles of the material which may be carried by the liquid flow to the end of the trough. The larger pieces of maten rial passing over the inclined screen 2l are discharged into the buckets 24 of a conveyor or endless carrier 25 which elevates such material A,and discharges it into or onto a chute 2li in turn delivering the material to a barrel or roller screen 2l.

Below the screen 2l is a hopper 28 partitioned by Aa wall 29 into two hoppers or chambers 3i? and 3| each having an outlet and which outlets are Controlled by valves $2 and 33, respectively. Hopper 28 is in elevated relation to the tank it and trough iii and is in fact at a height whereby trucks may be run under it to directly receive the material `from its chambers. Screen 2l extends across the partition 29 so that the material of smaller size passes through the screen and into the chamber itl while the pieces of larger sise fall out of the lower end ci the screen into charnber 3E.

Below the bin Il) but above the trough l@ is a feeder and distributor means 34 in the -form of a carrier or conveyor being endless in character and running on a pair of pulleys 35 and 33. The material or aggregate from the bin I9 passes out through an opening 31 the size of which is determinedk by the position of a slidable gate 38 and which gate may in fact be used to completely close the opening 31. Feeder 34 has its discharge end located over the trough I5 at a place in advance of the opening or throat 2B therethrough.

It will be seen that the weight of the material in bin I' is on the inclined bottom Wall 39 of the latter and not on the feeder 34 and that the rate at which the material is discharged onto the feeder will depend on the position of the gate 38. The permitted size of opening 3'! together with the speed at which feeder 34 is operated will determine the amount or rate of supply of the material or aggregate to the trough and it is to be fed to the trough at a Mratefin. such relation to the flow of liquid in the trough, that the material is constantly carried away from the place beneath the discharge end lof the vfeeder and is not permitted to pile up in the trough.

As the material from bin i is carried along by the flow of the liquid inthe trough the heavier portions (in the present instance the cinders) sink to the bottom of the trough and settle out through the opening 20 into the settling tank l1 while the lighter portions of the material (in this instance the coke) is carried by the liquid ow across the opening 25 and after discharge from the end of the trough are lifted to the hopper 28 as above set forth. The coke content of many so-called cinder dumps runs very high and thus the present invention provides for the recovery of a large quantity of valuable fuel.

The cinders which have settledout thro-ugh the opening 20 into the settling tank il are removed therefrom by a scrapper or conveyor means generally designated dii. Tank i'i is shown as somewhat V-shaped and the arrangement of parts is suchrthat the trough I6 passes between the arms of such -V-shaped tank as best shown in Fig. 2. One wall or arm 4! of the tank is extended as at t2 and the means 40 is operated in adirection such that its blades d3 will drag the -cinders (or other settled-out material) up the wall 4i and its extension 32.

Means di] is an open structure including a series of the cross blades i3 suitably spaced and as these blades drag the cinders or other materiall up the wall 6i, and particularly its extension 42, above the level of the liquid in the tank such material has a chance to drain and is tumbled along further aiding in its draining. Structure 40 in addition to the blades i3 includes a pair of spaced chains 43a between which the cinders may pass to settle to the bottom of tank i1. On passing from the upper edge of wall extension 42 the material drops onto an inclined screen or other perforated means M. This drop kfurther assists in removing the liquid from the material.

From means M the material passes into a Crusher l5,`preferably of the centrifugal type, and the crushed material discharged from the latter is directed by a chute 46 into the buckets lil of an elevating means or conveyor generally designated 48. If the material being fed to the crusher is too wet it may rst be passed through a centrifugal dryer or other means to extract additional amounts of the liquid from the ma?- terial. Conveyor 48 deposits the material onto a shaker screen 139.

The latter is over a hopper 50 and extends across a wall i within said hopper and dividing it into chambers 52 and 53 the outlets of which are controlled by valves or gates 54 and 55, respectively. It will be clear that of the material delivered to the screen 119 the smaller pieces will pass lthrough the screen and into the chamber 52 while the larger pieces will pass 0E the end of the screen and into the chamber 53. Hopper 5B is also in such an elevated position that trucks may be run under it vto be directly loaded on opening of either of the valves or gates 54 and 55. A feature of the invention is the floating of the coke or lighter material of the aggregate across the body of liquid in the settling tank by or in a stream of liquid passing through such body of liquid.- The trough i6v (see Fig. 4) is shown as including an outer bottom 55 and outer sides 51 of wood and an inner metal liner. This liner comprises a pair of transversely U-shaped pieces 58 and 59. Opening 2li through the bottom 56 extends the distance between the dotted lines 60 and 5i representing the edges of bottom 56. The metal liners 58 and 59 are adjustable toward and from one another and are shown in Fig. 3 with their adjacent ends overlying the edges 50 and Si so that the effective size of the opening or throat 20 in such figure is less than the distance between the ends 5G and 5i of the bottom 56.

The apparatus as disclosed provides a number of variable features. For example, the size of the discharge opening 3l from bin il) may be varied, the speed of the travel of the feeder 34 may be varied, the rate of flow of the liquid in the trough and the depth of the liquid in the trough may be varied by manipulation of valve i5, the height of liquid in the settling tank I1 may be varied by manipulation of valve I9 and the size of the opening or throat 25 may be varied by adjusting the liners 58 and 59 toward and from one another. Through these various controls the line of demarcation between the materials that will be floated across the opening 25 and those that will sink through such opening into the settling tank may be varied.

When the opening 25 is made relatively narrow and the liquid is flowing fast in the trough all but the heaviest materials will be carried across suchopening. On the other eXtreme when the liquid flow is slow and the opening 25 is very wide all but the lightest materials will settle through the opening 20. The body of liquid in the settling tank i'i prevents any drop in the liquid level in trough i6 at the place of the opening 20 and the liquid in said settling tank being relatively stationary itis not bubbling or rushing up through such opening. Therefore there is a normal ow of the liquid in the trough across the opening 28 and the heavy materials and only the heavy materials settle out through the opening 20.

Tank I3 is of such volume that the intake of water from the pipe lli in the lower portion of thetank does not create an undue turbulence in the water in the upper portion of the tank or in the trough. Thus portions of the material are not swept along the trough by agitation or by surges of the liquid since the latter flows ata constant rate in a steady stream. To prevent damage to the crusher 45 the pulley 36 of the feeder or spreader 34 is magnetized whereby to have metal pieces, as nails or the like, adhere to the feeder and be carried around the pulley and not dropped into the trough. As the conveyor leaves the pulley it carries the metal pieces with it and they drop from it when they pass .the

effective zone or eld of magnetism and fall into Scrapper a chute or any suitable receptacle 52. 4E) may be driven from any suitable source of power as through a sprocket wheel 63.

means for driving the other conveyors have not been shown it will be understood that such means are not new since the conveyors are of standard U constructions and their structural features form no part of the present invention.

Having thus set forth the nature of our invention, what we claim is:

l. In a material separation apparatus, a tank, a trough including spaced side walls and a bottoni wall, said trough communicating at one end with the upper portion of said tank to continuously receive liquid therefrom, means for supplying liquid to said tank a volume sufoient to maintain a given level in the tank and trough with a constant now through the latter, a settling tank, said trough having its bottom wall and at least the lower portions of its side walls passing through the upper portion of said settling tank below the upper edges of the walls of the latter whereby said settling tank is adapted to contain liquid to a level above the bottom wall of the trough portion passing therethrough, said trough having an opening through its bottom wall within said settling tank, means for feeding material to be separated to the liquid in said trough at a place intermediate said first tank and said opening, and said opening providing means whereby heavy portions of the material to be separated may settle out into said settling tank while the lighter portions of said material are carried across said opening by the liquid flowing through the trough.

2. In a material separation apparatus, a bin to receive the material to be separated, a tank, a trough including spaced side walls and a bottom wall, said trough communicating at one end with the upper portion of said tank to continuously receive liquid therefrom, means for supplying liquid to said tank in such volume as to maintain a given level of liquid in the tank and trough with a substantially constant ow through the latter, a settling tank, said trough having its bottom wall and at least the lower portions of its side walls passing through the upper portion of said settling tank below the upper edges of the walls of the latter whereby said settling tank is adapted to contain liquid to a level above the bottom wall of the trough portion therein, said trough having an opening through said bottom wall portion within the settling tank, a spreading and feeding means for receiving material from said bin and depositing it at a predetermined rate in the liquid in said trough at a place intermediate said rst tank and said opening, said opening providing means whereby heavy portions of the material being separated may settle out into said settling tank while the lighter portions of said material are carried across said opening by the liquid ilowing through the trough, and means adjustable to vary the size of said opening.

3. In a material separation apparatus, a bin to receive the material to be separated, a tank, a trough including spaced side walls and a bottom wall, said trough communicating at one end with the upper portion of said tank to continuously receive liquid therefrom, means for supplying liquid to said tank in such volume as to maintain a given level of liquid in the tank and trough with a substantially constant flow through the latter, a settling tank, said trough having its bottom wall and at least the lower portions of its side walls passing through the upper portion of said settling tank below the upper edges of the walls of the latter whereby said settling tank is adapted to contain liquid to a level above the bottom wall of the trough portion therein, said trough having an opening through said bottom wall portion within the settling tank, a spreading and feeding means for receiving material from said bin and depositing it at a predetermined rate in the liquid in said trough at a place intermediate said first tank and said opening, said opening providing means whereby heavy portions of the material being separated may settle out into said settling tank while the lighter portions of said material are carried across said opening by the liquid flowing through the trough, means adjustable to vary the size of said opening, and means adjustable to vary the rate of supply of liquid to the first mentioned tank and thus the rate of flow of liquid in said trough.

4. In a material separation apparatus, a tank, a trough including spaced side walls and a bottom wall, said trough communicating at one end with the upper portion of said tank to continuously receive liquid therefrom, means adjustable to Vary the rate of supply of liquid to said trough, said trough including spaced side walls and a bottom wall, a settling tank, said trough crossing said settling tank and disposed partly within the upper portion thereof whereby a length of said side and bottom walls are disposed below the upper edges of the side walls of the tank and the latter may contain liquid to a level above that of the bottom wall of the trough, said trough having an opening in the bottom wall thereof Within the settling tank, adjustable means for feeding material to be separated to the liquid in said trough at a place intermediate said first tank and said opening and means adjustable to vary the size of said opening measured along the length of said trough whereby on adjustment of said means and the means for varying the supply of liquid to the trough the action of the apparatus as to the relative weights of the materials which will be carried across said opening by the flow of water in the trough and those that will settle through said opening may be widely varied.

JOSEPH M. AURILIO. JACK H. SCI-IECTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 16,673 Bethke July 12, 1927 844,253 Cordero Feb. 12, 1907 1,135,754 Bell Apr. 13, 1915 1,505,024 Henry Aug. 12, 1924 2,025,841 Young Dec. 31, 1935 2,223,468 Spencer Deo. 3, 1940 2,293,664 Roberts Aug. 18, 1942 2,315,436 McNeill Apr. 6, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 102,143 Germany Mar, 11, 1899 212,436 Great Britain Mar. 13, 1924 

